by Lisa J. Tabet
Daily Lobo
Bob McCannon is not happy with most advertising messages presented in American mass media, including the Daily Lobo.
McCannon, the executive director of the New Mexico Media Literacy Project, said that if anyone wants an example of how media demeans women, they should take a look at the campus newspaper.
"Open up the Lobo to its porn pages," he said Wednesday night at the first lecture presented by the Media Honors Program, titled "What's Wrong with the Media?"
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McCannon was referring to advertisements in the Lobo for some adult businesses such as TD's Showclub, Fantasy World and Midnight Rodeo.
Since 1993, McCannon has been crusading for awareness of media issues. The New Mexico Media Literacy Project was founded in 1993, and is sponsored by the Albuquerque Academy. Its goal is to make New Mexico a media literate state, aspiring to lead a "cultural revolution for the health of children and democracy."
Although his objections mentioned the Daily Lobo, they were not limited to the student newspaper.
Advertisements by many popular companies were under fire at McCannon's presentation. Some of the issues discussed included media and democracy, children and the media and racism and sexism.
"Parents today don't have a clue about media and its effects because they aren't told," McCannon said.
Using an abundance of visual examples to illustrate his points, McCannon gave examples of sexism, exploitation of children and other issues in advertising that are in media that consumers routinely encounter but may not recognize.
He targeted Budweiser, Coca-Cola, Victoria's Secret and Kraft Foods as businesses that use advertising that slight women's self-esteem and commercialize children to sell their products.
Following the presentation there was a brief question-and-answer session. Audience questions ranged from subliminal messages in the mass media to the effects of Hollywood on the media.
McCannon responded that Hollywood does use "cultural imperialism" in advertising, citing scenes from popular movies such as "Training Day." Though Hollywood does influence media, government is an even larger influence, McCannon said.
"The U.S government is the number one producer of media in the world," he said.
Although this seemed like bad news, McCannon added that Americans are not living in the worst period of history.
He maintained that while the media is rapidly turning into a massive global corporation, several national and worldwide grassroots movements actively combat this trend. He told the audience that "anti-ads" are advertisements that contest messages in mainstream media. He illustrated anti-ads by showing a series of advertisements by Truth.com, an anti-smoking campaign.
Some audience members who gathered for the presentation in the Mechanical Engineering Building agreed with McCannon on several of his points.
"You watch ads all the time, but you never think of some of the messages they're [companies] sending out," said David Kisser, a UNM junior. "They may not be related to the products at all."
McCannon encouraged the audience to think about the effects media have on their lives.
"People are starting to get more aware," McCannon said, urging audience members to tell the "other side of the story" that the media doesn't present.
The Media Honors Program was formally organized this semester and membership is available to students pursuing degrees in the media industry with a grade point average of 3.2 or above.
